The camp is still upbeat

Our lengthy road trip hasn’t begun the way we would have liked it to, but the mood in the camp is still upbeat despite the two defeats to Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals. While we were outplayed in Mumbai, I think we were a touch unfortunate against Rajasthan.

We had put up a pretty competitive total but it remained a good batting wicket right through the game although Rajasthan deserves a lot of credit for reading the conditions so well. So the quest for our first away win continues and you might feel we should get it against Pune Warriors on Thursday, but it would be a huge mistake to go into the game with that kind of thinking.

There is always an air of unpredictability about a ‘bottom of the table’ side, and I’m sure Warriors would love to make a statement that they don’t deserve to be where they are at the moment which is all the more reason why we can’t afford to be complacent.

At this juncture, it’s so important to maintain your discipline and focus as the last thing we want is losing our way in a manner which might lead us to be dependent on other results to seal a play-off spot.

I don’t normally like devoting attention to what other teams are doing but it’s hard to escape the fact that Chennai Super Kings is on a sparkling run.

Super Kings have won this tournament twice, lost in the final on two other occasions and have grown very familiar with what it’s like to be in the top four. So they have a lot of experience and M.S. Dhoni has also been leading from the front.

Speaking of good leaders, you’d have to look pretty hard to find someone who fits that description better than Virat Kohli.

Viv Richards was right about Virat’s aggression and passion which you see on the field, but you see a different side of him off the field. He’s very easy to get along with, and as a captain, he expresses himself very well and is very straightforward. That’s the sort of guy you want to be around and I’m more than happy to be sharing the dressing room with someone like Virat.

It was interesting to hear Shane Watson backing Virat to seriously have a crack at eclipsing my 175 not out. While I don’t deny Virat is more than capable of doing so on his day, I think Shane was being a bit modest, because if I had to bet on someone breaking my record, it would have to be Shane Watson.

— Professional Management Group